A Murder in the Morning
by cavanaugh-girl
Summary: A murder will take Jordan over the edge.What is she hiding? Who will she turn to for help? Find out! CHAPTER 13,14 and 15 added!NOW FINISHED I changed the rating to T just 2b safe. I only used 1 lil cuss word sowy
1. Going down down down

"What's that you say? He's dead? How did that happen…when…oh my god Jordan! Is she all right? I'm on my way."

He couldn't believe the call he just received. He couldn't be dead. Impossible, he was missing for a year now. How did he pop up all of a sudden, or why was an even bigger question. What would he say to her? Should he say something to her? I mean he hadn't been himself lately to say the least and he treated her like yesterdays news every time they saw each other. Now this had to change, this was big. Her father dying, murdered to be clear was huge. He needed to be there for her, but something in him stopped him from becoming close to her again. He needed to deal with his own demons before he could help her with hers.

At the scene of the crime he found her sitting next to the body of her father. She seemed so helpless. It scared him to think that she was helpless; it's not the Jordan he knew or once so deeply loved. He slowly walked in her direction making as little noise as possible. It seemed as if she didn't know he was there, and even when he was right beside her she still didn't look up at him. She had a blank stare in her face, and looking paler than ever he was quite sure he had never seen her this way. He felt the strong urge to hug her and take her from this place of heartache, hug her and tell her everything will be all right. But the days where he could have gotten away with that were now gone.

"Jordan…Jordan? It's me Woody."

She kept her eyes fixed on something that wasn't there it seemed, just a blank stare. "

Hey…listen why don't we go sit on the couch and let these men do their work?"

As he slowly bent over to touch her, she seemed to snap back to reality and looked up at him. The blank look on her face however was still there and it pained him more than he led on and allowed himself to show her. Carrying her to the couch wasn't hard at all; she was light as a feather and a couple a months ago he would have been thrilled to hold her close to him. Now it was merely part of the job. He wasn't sure about her state of mind. Sure she must be hurting but you never knew what to expect from her and now more than ever he was completely clueless as how to talk to her. She seemed to have tears in her eyes but they never came down, it was as if she wouldn't let herself cry. That was the Jordan he knew, always trying to be strong. Out of the blue he put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Her head now resting on his shoulder and then it came. Tears were rolling down her cheek onto his shirt and she was softly sobbing. Hearing this broke his heart and before he knew it he said the words, it'll be ok, I'm here for you…Hearing himself say this scared him, but he was more relieved than scared, relieved that he still loved her. Thankful he could be here for her now. She finally spoke but he wished she hadn't. The words pained him. "

I'm sorry…sorry I didn't mean to break down like that. God that's the last thing you'd want to hear right now. God I didn't know what to do and…and…"

She pulled away from him and sobbed again but this time she put her face in her hands and clearly didn't want him to comfort her he thought.

Not knowing what to do he got up and went to help his colleagues with the investigation. Sensing he was gone she slowly looked up. _At least he's here._ On some level she believed he still cared for her, or maybe it was hope? It didn't matter now…now she had bigger issues to work through. It was difficult to believe her father was lying there motionless; his body so cold she felt chills when she touched him. _Why did it have to happen now?_ He had just surfaced again after almost a year. They had spoken about a truce finally and the good news was they both agreed it was time…time to accept each other as they were. Now she would never have that again, she would never speak to her father again. He would never know how much she loved him despite her stubbornness, but she dearly hoped he did.

She watched as they did their work and slowly they were packing up and leaving her apartment. When they got ready to wrap up the body she shot up from the couch and sped to her father. She wanted to see him one last time…the last time she would see him like this. She knew she had to work on his case, no matter how hard it would be she knew she had to be the medical examiner examining him. There was no one else she could trust with a case as sensitive as this one. Her colleagues at the morgue all became her friends but this was one she needed to do herself. Garrett would never let her come near him but somehow she needed to find a way for him to agree with her…the case had to be dealt with by her. The answers would be found if she was there to see them. She had to find the killer of her father…he had to pay for what he had done to him…what he had done to her! Once again she found herself restless…restless until she finds the killer of her father.

It had been 24 hours and the frustration of not finding any clues was killing Jordan. She had barely slept or even eaten a full meal. Her friends at the morgue were growing more and more concerned with her behavior but they knew they couldn't stop her. Garrett being the only one thus far to knock some sense in her at times was powerless in this case as well. He knew this case could end up costing more people their lives and wasn't about to let Jordan be one of them. He found no other way than to contact Woody, reason with him or even force him to help Jordan. Not just on a professional level but on any other level she needed. It was no secret to anybody anymore of the mutual attachment between the two. Still it was difficult for him to request something like this from anybody but especially Woody. Woody's breakdown had been evident to all that dealt with him. The fact that he was receiving help for that did alarm him but considering his own past he was not going to judge him for that, moreover it wasn't his business.

Jordan's health was also deteriorating, but she held back some other truth from everybody else including Woody. They had decided to keep a secret from everyone that a few months ago before their worlds were turned upside down, they did manage by some miracle of God spend some time together romantically. They had found a way to set aside all the problems and focus on them for a change. The ironic part of it all was that they really made it work for at least two weeks. They were two weeks filled with laughter, love, and lovemaking. There were no quarrels, to the extent they are having presently, and life seemed to be at the high point. The highest it can get before it all comes tumbling down. Jordan's health was deteriorating because she was pregnant, and everybody knows you need to take care of yourself when expecting. Unfortunately for Jordan she has multiple reasons not to enjoy this miracle called pregnancy. Being at odds with the father of the baby being one and her own fathers murder being another. She needed to focus now however, her father and her baby came first now, and she would have to deal with everything else later quietly hoping that it wouldn't be too late.

Finally after 28 hours of going insane there was a clue but not the one she was waiting for. The mystery was only about to unfold with the autopsy report of her father.

She looked over the results of the autopsy report and grew pale. _Impossible_. She read it multiple times before she looked up to Nigel with questions marks all over her face. Nigel, who had grown closer to Jordan over the past few years, got the look on her face.

"What's the matter love?" he said.

For a moment Jordan couldn't say anything, but she managed to utter some words.

"Nige, this is wrong, it can't be…"

Nigel didn't seem to understand because in all these years he had been wrong only on a couple occasions and this one was an open and shut case.

"The blood type is wrong," she told him.

He needed a minute to process what she had just told him but he understood now. He was left without words, what could he possible say to her now? Jordan's world had turned upside down twice over the course of 2 days. She didn't wait for him to get his thoughts on track; she turned around and walked away. She didn't know where she was off to but then again she never did.


	2. It's all in the numbers

Jordan had some time now to cool down or at least attempt to do so. All these years she was living a lie. She thought about her father and how in all these years nothing led her to question Max or believe that he wasn't her father.

"Max" she said, "Max Cavanaugh…who are you? Who am I?"

She drove her car to the park where she used to jog…where she and Woody used to jog, and just sat there trying to make sense out of it all.

" I can't believe this. There has to be something wrong with the report", she kept repeating to herself over and over again.

Her father did keep things from her in the past but this…this was just too much. She suddenly felt so alone, she was used to the feeling but this time it was a bit different. It was different because she realized that she really belonged to nobody. Sure she had friends and she couldn't really describe her relationship with Woody, but now she had lost her father. There is something eerie about realizing that you have nobody…nobody to fall back upon. She continued with this train of thought for a bit until she felt the urge to go back to the morgue.

"God I must be crazy", she told herself. "I just lost everything I knew and all I can think of is going back to work?"

She knew however the reason for this, her friends were like her family and she needed to be with them now. She also knew that she wasn't in the mood for questions, but she needed her friends' comfort and after a second of making sure she was up for it she drove back to the morgue.

Down at the morgue it was business as usual, bodies came and went. A specific body though preoccupied the thoughts of some of the workers. Nigel, Bug, and Lily tried to make some sense of Jordan's behavior and the test result, which drove her away in shock.

Lily was her usual concerned self.

" I really hope she's ok. Has anyone heard from her since she's left?" she asked. "She shouldn't be alone at a time like this, we have to find her."

The guys agreed with her but nobody knew where to start looking for her. Nigel also worried about her, but his concern turned to anger to a certain Boston PD detective. Nigel, a good friend of Jordan's, knew of their mutual attraction but even he was out of the loop to the extent of their attachment. He was lingering in his own thoughts when Woody appeared at the morgue for police business.

"_Bloody hell there he is, doesn't seem to be much in distress. If I were him I'd be all over the bloody place looking for her_."

"Hey any progress on the body guys?"

Nigel couldn't help himself and answered for the group, "would you possibly mean the body of Max Cavanaugh… Jordan's dad? Ah that would be a nay, we're still working on it."

Woody didn't really know what to think of this and decided not to pursue the matter further.

"Ok well then let me know when you do" and trying to avoid the guys and Nigel in particular he turned to Lily to find out if she knew where Jordan was. "Hey Lily…I didn't see Jordan around, is she in her office?"

Lily trying to be as sweet as always shook her head and in fact informed him that Jordan hadn't been in yet. "It's only been a couple of hours since we got the call, I'll let you know when she comes in all right?"

Without any of them noticing though, Jordan snuck in and was listening to their conversation. "Hey guys here I am what do you want?"

Her direct question took everyone by surprise and after waiting a few moments for an answer but not receiving any she told them she'd be in her office.

"Don't worry guys I'm not going anywhere, I need to catch the bastard who killed my dad first."

Bug was the first one to say something after her outburst, " well there you have it she's ok, I gotta get to work now. Macy awarded me with the Cavanaugh case."

It's not that Bug didn't care about Jordan but he just felt he was more useful to her when working hard on the case and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Meanwhile Jordan was sitting behind her desk with her head in her hands trying to figure out what to do next. She knew she couldn't do this alone but was also not ready to ask for help…she wasn't ready to ask him for help. A knock on her door pulled her away from her thoughts, _what do I do if it's him…breathe Jordan…snap out of it…you've got other things to worry about._ "Yeah…come in."

To her relief it was only Garrett, "hey checking up on me too Gar? Well I'm still here, not going anywhere."

Garrett paused for a moment, "Jordan it's me…I know you're hurting. Don't shut us…me out. We're doing everything we can…we'll find out who did this."

Even though it was good for Jordan to hear this, she still felt alone in this fight. "I know you are, I am just so lost right now" and tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I don't know what to do…" she started sobbing and Garrett went over to her desk and took her in his arms. He just let her cry knowing she needed to let it out.

Woody was still standing outside her office looking into her office. He wanted to be the one that held her, but what he couldn't do Garrett did. He knew Garrett and Jordan were just good friends but at that moment he was envious of their relationship and more so of him holding her…comforting her. Feeling out of place and of no use here he left to go work on the case. On some level he hoped to find the killer so he could show Jordan how much he cared for her…still.

"Garrett…I need to be in the room when you examine the body."

He released her from his arms and agreed "Bug is doing the examination though…he'll be thorough I know he will. He's getting ready to start so go get changed. I don't want you touching anything however. It needs to be done right…I know you'll agree with me."

On any other occasion she would protest, but in this case she let it be.

"I promise…thanks Gar," she said while coming closer to give him a kiss on the cheeks. "Don't ever give up on me ok" she wasn't sure why she had said that but she needed to get to work now.

Bug was already working on the examination when Jordan entered the room. He looked up at her and nodded his head " hey…the cause of death was a shot to the chest, it went straight to the heart. You know it must have been painless."

She felt her stomach turning but tried to stay strong. She felt tears rolling down her cheek, and noticed Bug's worried face.

"It's ok it's not your fault…I can't seem to turn it off."

Feeling a bit better Bug made an attempt to express his sympathy for her " I'm sorry you know…I mean this shouldn't have happened."

Bug never was good at expressing anything so he just stopped before he making things worse, "right so the shot was from point blank range. He must've known the shooter for him or her to come so close."

"What do we know about the bullet", she said trying her best not to scream, "did Nigel take look at it yet?"

She looked around to see if he was near and spotted him just as he came to the door.

"Well here in my hand lies the solution…right maybe just part of it but it does help I assure you."

Nigel decided to approach Jordan just as he would normally. He felt everybody else would show her pity but not him.

"The bullet is one that is made right here in the States. It came from a Smith & Wesson handgun. Here's the part that's interesting, to the naked eye it seems the bullet has a serial number inscribed on the edge. But have looksy into the microscope and you'll see it is engraved with '91879'. I've been trying to trace the number, but it seems the 'serial number' doesn't exist."

To Jordan however that number was all too familiar, she desperately tried to conceal her shock as he told her.

"So now this leaves us with a number to unlock the mystery. See love we're going to find out who did this don't you worry."

She managed giving him a slight smile and said, "I know…."

Just then Bug who was still working on her father's body redirected the attention back to him, "guys… I got a hair."

Jordan was feeling a lot of emotions at once, but she also realized how much she loved these guys; "hey guys just in case I don't get a chance later, I just wanna say thanks. I know you're worried about me and just thanks…."

They both kind of smiled and nodded, "well why don't you and Nigel work on the hair while I continue here" Bug said.

"I'm already ahead of you Buggles, I'm checking if the hair is in the database, then we'll get him."

As the hair identification went on Garrett walked in to check the progress.

"What do we have? The DA is calling my phone of the hook."

Jordan seemed surprised by this, "Walcott…geez what's in it for her? I didn't think my dad's death would interest her."

"Solving an ex-cop's murder…I would say that would spark some interest. This could turn big, she's smart enough to see what lies ahead" he replied. "So what can you tell me?" he knew Jordan butt heads with the DA in the past so he directed his question to Bug.

As soon as he heard the specifics about the bullet he couldn't help but to look at Jordan. "Jordan…the bullet, does it mean what I think it means?"

Jordan tried hiding this from him but changed her mind and just looked at him "yes."

"All right Jordan my office, you two keep looking and let me know first thing when you find something."

Jordan walked into the office followed by Garrett who shut the door behind them. "Jordan…what the hell is going on? The number…this means the shooter knows your family!" "Christ Garrett I know! How do you think I feel about all of this…I mean what else…what will be next…I am slowly going over the edge here."

He backed off before she completely lost it, "Jordan I'll keep this as long as I can from the DA and Woody if you want, but I gotta give them the hair or else they'll become suspicious."

Jordan nodded "yeah I need to find out first how and why it was on the bullet. Thanks Gar, I know what this could do to you but I really need the time. I'll go let the guys know then."

"Hey guys call me if you have anything new I gotta go."

She didn't wait for their reply and Nigel yelled after her "right love will do!"

She now had something to go on…a number…better yet a date. The date her mother was murdered…


	3. Biting your tongue would be good

Sorry guys it's a long chapter. 

_I can't do this…come on Jordan this is necessary you know you want to solve this case once and for all…_she was standing outside the police department for some time now. _You need his help, this has nothing to do with us just the case, go in there, go!_ She finally convinced herself she could at least talk to him without getting too personal. If she wanted to get some answer she needed his contacts.

"Hey Woody…you got a minute?"

He was sitting at his desk going through some paperwork when he looked up and saw her standing with a somewhat worried look on her face.

"Jordan? Is everything ok?" he asked with what sounded genuine concern in his voice.

"Well yeah that depends on you actually…I mean I kinda need your help with my fathers case. I have a lead and I can't do anything with it…unless I get some help from you."

_God how lame do I sound just now? Please Woody just agree don't make me stand here babbling like an idiot. _So yeah what do you say?"

Woody couldn't help but think how much he had wanted to help her and now he actually had a chance, she wanted him to help her. "A lead! That's great…well I mean sorry not great because you know what… ok of course I'll help show me what you got."

He needed to get technical before he made an idiot of himself.

"We found a hair…we know it's not my dads. Nigel and Bug are working on getting a match but nothing yet and frankly I doubt they'll get a match."

Woody was somewhat puzzled now, "right so I hate to be blunt like this but what do you need me to do? You got the hair and now you just need to get a match…so."

_I knew this was a mistake…you know what to do Woody! Just set your emotions aside and do what you do…find the bastard. _"Listen it's hard for me to sit here and ask for your help, but I'm here because I'd do anything to catch the guy that killed my parents…I just need you to do something, you know the situation better than any cop here at the station. Trust me if there was a way to do this without you I would do it but there isn't! So just help or just tell me now you don't wanna do it…I understand."

"Fine…no need to get like this I'll see what I can do just get me what you have on the hair as soon as possible" he said while turning back to the pile of papers laid out in front of him.

She followed his lead and left…for the nearest bathroom, she felt sick and wondered if it was morning sickness or because she had to treat him like she did.

Back at the desk Woody also wondered about the conversation they just had, but he was specifically focusing on a thing she said to him, _I'd do anything to catch the guy that killed my parents…what is going on here Jordan? What does your mothers murder have to do with all this? _He then thought about her not wanting to ask him for help but he was too hurt to even think further about that.

Back at the morgue Nigel and Bug were working hard to find the origin of the hair that was found on Max's body.

"So what is your take on all this?" Bug asked Nigel.

"I have not a clue Buggles. I mean Max, a retired cop, who'd want to off him? See what everybody is forgetting, he put a lot of criminals behind bars so chances are this was just plain old revenge. Naturally I hate to put it like that but it is a possibility."

Bug nodded "yeah he must've had countless enemies, I just hate to see Jordan in so much pain. I can't imagine having both parents taken from you like this."

"Well we can help her Bug, this hair tells a story of its own…ah yes the results are in…oh would you look at this…I actually expected it to be male. I have to let Jordan know about this."

"Know what Nige?"

She walked in the room and heard the last part of the conversation.

"Ah there you are love, well the hair is female, and from the looks of it, it wasn't her natural color" he said with a smile on his face but seeing his usual additional trivial information wasn't really acknowledged he refrained himself from cracking a joke.

Jordan felt her emotions running high again but this time she managed to control herself, _a woman…did she kill my dad?_

"Anything else…did you match it to anybody yet?"

"Well the machine takes it from here love, it's actually still processing it but any minute now we'll find out…ah there we go, love we got a name."

_This is it! _She felt relieved but scared at the same time, what if it was someone she knew, a family friend. "Well who is it?"

"Let's see…A Samantha Barrington from…she's a local. Do you have a clue who she is?" he asked her.

"No…I don't know her" was all she managed to say about the name. "I have to let Woody know he's uhm helping me with the case."

She grabbed her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart,

"Woody…we got a name. Samantha Barrington, she seems to be a local…what!" she cried "but how? All right I'll be there in a moment bye." _Oh my god she's there. _"Guys I gotta go down to the station, that lady Samantha Barrington, she's at the station it seems" she looked at Nigel and Bug with a hopeful look in her eye and left.

Nigel sped out after her thinking he wouldn't let her face the potential killer alone. "Wait up love I'm right behind you." She looked at him and was too overcome with her emotions to say no.

"All right Ms Barrington start from the beginning, how do you know Max Cavanaugh?"

Woody was already questioning Ms. Barrington who was sitting opposite him well dressed, not your typical murderer he thought. She didn't seem fazed by him or the fact that she was held on suspicion of murder. Naturally no charges were filed as yet but that could change.

She finally spoke, "Max and I were in love. He was kind to me and I to him, this is all very appalling that you would even consider me as his murderer."

"So you admit you knew him then. Tell me were you with him the night he was killed?"

"I was with him yes, before you applaud yourself with anything, I left his place in the morning. See detective I didn't come here for this…I was hoping you would give some answers, not keep me here like an animal locked in a cage."

Woody didn't find her as menacing as she wanted him to believe.

"Ms Barrington, you have to understand, you come in here saying you knew Max Cavanaugh. Now I have reason to believe that you were with him on the day he was killed and you just corroborated that, so now I need to establish and verify your connection with him. No one is keeping you locked up like an animal, I'm sure if what you're saying is true you would want to find his killer. Answering these questions would help a great deal, seeing as so far you are the last person who's seen him alive. Now when did you two meet?"

Reluctantly she answered his question "we met over a year ago on a retreat. We've both lost a loved one, he was helping me through my hardship."

The questioning had gone on for some time when Jordan and Nigel finally reached the station and entered the room attached to the questioning room. Jordan was listing to the interrogation and analyzing the woman she thought killed her father.

"Nigel there she is, god do you really think she did it?"

He didn't want to give her false hope but at the same time didn't want to pull the rug from under her feet either.

"We'll just have to wait a bit longer, Woody will get it out of her surely just hold on all right." _Don't let her down again Woody; I'm not sure she'll be able to take it. I can't believe I'm saying this but I hope you can do it. _

The door opened and Walcott stepped in somewhat surprised to see Jordan there already.

"Dr. Cavanaugh already here?" She resisted the urge to bring up her relationship with Woody; even she realized it wasn't necessary at the moment.

"Yea Walcott I didn't really have anything else to do so I thought why not see who killed my father," she snapped back.

"Oh I'm sorry you don't know…she didn't do it. See she is claiming your father and she had a relationship. She came to find out if we'd made any progress yet."

Jordan wanted to hurt her so badly; she knew Walcott was enjoying this far too much. "What…and you believe her? We found her hair on…on my father and we know he was shot from close range, she did it!"

Normally Jordan didn't go for open and shut cases but her judgment was a bit clouded on this particular case. Nigel sensed he should step in before the two women would duke it out right there.

"Eh Jordan let's just see what Woody has so far. Nothing is set in stone love just take it easy." Walcott did the same; she also let her own personal feelings get the upper hand. It wasn't unknown to anyone that the two didn't see eye-to-eye most of the time.

Woody made little progress, as Ms. Barrington was tougher to crack than he had hoped. "Detective either charge me or let me go, I've told you all I know and I am most displeased with your treatment. This is no way to treat me, I have just lost someone dear and here I am being questioned as if I were the one who did this to him."

He knew he didn't have anything on her but wasn't about to let her know that "just sit tight ma'am, I'll be back to check on you" and he left the room in search of Walcott.

The first person he saw as he entered the door was Jordan, he wasn't surprised to see her just somewhat uneasy.

_I got nothing for her. _

He turned to Walcott "what do we do? She's though but I don't think she's lying. She admits being there so now what?"

"Cut her loose," the DA said "but keep an eye on her you never know" and left without even looking at Jordan. "

What…no you can't do this! She did it…you can't give up like that," Jordan was yelling at the door because Walcott already left and she felt so hopeless. "Woody look at me I know she did it, there's nobody else. I can't believe this."

He didn't know what to say to her but he tried anyways "Jor…we can't hold her, we got nothing. She admits being with him, she was seeing him Jor. There's no motive…you heard Walcott, we'll watch her I promise."

Not knowing if she was even listening to him he turned to Nigel "Nige take her home, there's nothing you can do here. I'll see what else I can find" and left the two alone.

_She expected more from me…what could I have done though? God I can't stand seeing her like this. _Woody felt more and more distant from her and was scared it would become permanent…if it hadn't already.

"Nigel I'm going to see her. I need you to cover for me all right, this Barrington lady is not getting off so easy…"

"Jordan! Love hold on you can't be serious; I think it's a bad idea. You're not ready to face her…Jordan…Jordan."

He called after her while she walked out towards Ms. Barrington who was just about to leave. "Hey…Hey I need to talk to you" her voice trembled but she tried to hide it.

Ms. Barrington turned around to see what all the commotion was and now stood face to face with Jordan. "Yes? Can I help you?"

" You damn right you can, start telling me why you killed my father" her face was overcome with anger and part of her wanted to hurt Ms. Barrington right then and there.

"I beg your pardon? Your father…oh…Max? Oh heavens Jordan?" her face seemed surprised. "Yes…Max Cavanaugh my father, well?" the tremble in her voice was now replaced with confidence.

"Jordan dear, I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, you see your father…" Jordan jumped in, "just tell me why you did it! I don't need to listen to all this crap I just wanna know why!"

Ms. Barrington's cheeks turned red with anger "I say, I would have never guessed Max's daughter to behave in this manner, I am not responsible for his death young lady! I loved him…I …I" now even Ms. Barrington was overcome with her emotions and not able to speak anymore she just turned around and left Jordan behind with even more questions unanswered for than before.

She wanted to run after her but Nigel held her back "no…no love just let her go. You can talk to her later on, I think she's had enough for today."

Nigel also wasn't too sure Ms. Barrington was the murderer. Jordan who was now exhausted let go reluctantly, she remembered her baby all of a sudden and without realizing it she said it out loud.

Nigel nearly fainted "What…baby? Bloody hell what did you say!"

She felt too tired to come up with an excuse, frankly part of her was relieved she could share it with someone at last so she told Nigel the whole story, making him promise he would not tell a soul.

"Right we need to get you home now and eat, I haven't seen you eat all day. No this will not do…you need to eat.".

Seeing her fathers body in front of her again she refused to go home, "no Nigel lets just go to my office I promise I'll lay down there and eat…I promise please I can't go home" her pleading eyes convinced him not to take her home but to her office instead.

The morgue was getting ready to go into the night shift, Lily and Bug both left for the day. Garrett was sitting in his office when he received a phone call from the DA.

"Garrett I don't want Dr. Cavanaugh running around screwing up my case. She's taken on the role of the whole PD, I don't need to deal with her all right."

He felt angry at her insensitivity but also agreed with her on some level. He knew Jordan would not make Walcott's job easy and even he felt frustrated at times with her inability to listen and take orders.

"Renee she just lost her father, even you can't be insensitive about that" he knew of the possibility this could backfire on him but he decided in that split second Jordan needed him more than his need to patch things up with the DA.

"Garrett…keep her in line or I'll shut her out. I can't have her attack every suspect we bring in just because she has a hunch."

The next sound he heard was the dial tone.

_Christ Jordan what did you do? What did I do?_

Both Nigel and Jordan at that moment walked past his office. He saw worried Nigel's face and felt something was wrong.

"Jordan? Nigel? What happened at the station?"

"Dr. Macy she needs to lie down first, I'll tell you all about it in a bit." not knowing how he would take it, because this was the first time he actually in a way didn't listen to his superior, he continued to lead Jordan to her office.

"Ah Garrett don't fuss I'm ok, Nigel is just overprotective of me you know..."

Nigel wanted her to talk to Dr. Macy about his discovery so he left to gather up some food. "Jordan what's going on? Nigel is acting weirder than usual. What are you not telling me?"

She felt so exhausted and coming up with an excuse seemed like a huge mountain to cross so she just told him.

"You're sure about this?" was all he managed to say at first.

"Gee Gar, no I just thought I didn't have enough to deal with so…yeah I'm sure believe me." Sensing she was looked for comfort he reassured her it would be ok, "listen to me we'll get through this all right."

She was rather surprised by his answer "we Gar? Hate break it to you but it's not yours."

"Really doctor?" he said mockingly. "The kid needs some protection from his parents, I think he will need his uncle to come rescue him or her from time to time from you and…it is Woody's right?" He felt the stupidity of his question right away, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"

"Gar…Gar it's fine. No offense taken ok. But yeah it's his and no I haven't told him and no neither will you. In fact nobody needs to know right now all right."

He agreed to keep it under the table until she was ready to tell him.

"You need to do it soon though, he needs to know and be there for you now. I don't mean to go where I'm not wanted but I know you two are in some kind of weird place right now but there's someone else you need to think about right now."

"Yeah for once I agree Gar" she smiled at him "but I need to sleep now I'm so tired," she said right before she let out a yawn.

She fell asleep almost instantly with Garret by her side and when Nigel came back with some food he told him to leave it on the desk. Both men left with a heavy heart, neither knowing what to do exactly but both desperate to do something.


	4. Breakfast in bed

Woody was sitting behind his desk, his face was unshaved, and his clothes wrinkled, sure signs he never went home the day before. He was in fact working on Max's case, determined to find a clue leading to the real killer. He still didn't believe Ms. Barrington was the killer, but that didn't get him anywhere, sure as hell wouldn't get him closer to Jordan.

_All right lets go over this again. The girlfriend is out of the picture, who wanted Max dead? An ex-con…somebody he put behind bars perhaps._

He was trying to figure out Jordan's words before she left the station.

_What did she mean by "I'm here because I'd do anything to catch the guy that killed my parents?" She must've been just tired…or maybe she really meant what she said._

Woody was determined to find out what it meant. He took off to the morgue in search of Jordan.

"Jordan? Jordan? Come on love wake up, I have this grand breakfast all ready for our favorite M.E."

Nigel was making sure she started of with some hearty food, or at least whatever he managed to scramble together for her. The food he left for her the night before didn't seem too appetizing anymore.

"Mhmm Nige be a doll and get lost."

He knew she didn't mean it so he decided to tease her a bit, "That's the thanks I get for all my hard work? Bloody hell I might as well eat it myself then."

It seemed to work because even though she was playing though she was in fact a bit hungry and realizing what she was doing, passing up breakfast in bed.

"Ah Nige cheer up I meant to say good morning love" she gave him a smile that could any mans heart, "what are we having?"

"Ah yes that's better, well top of the morning to ya as well. Let's see I have for thee some eggs, some bread, some juice de orange, and ah yes milk. I brought coffee but then realized that you can't have any so I passed it on to good ol' Buggles. All right go wash up I'll try to make some sort of breakfast table here, come on now go."

She found it somewhat amusing that she was becoming so obedient these past few days. She was actually smiling, really smiling not just faking it so others would feel better knowing she wasn't mourning too much.

_God I really love Nigel, only he could make me laugh right now while I'm feeling like a truck has hit me._

She went to wash up and returned within a couple minutes to enjoy her breakfast. Nigel set up her desk as a mock breakfast table; they sat down and ate together. There wasn't really much talking going on, she didn't realize how hungry she was. Nigel having already eaten breakfast just nibbled on some toast letting her eat the rest.

"This was great Nige, just what I needed."

He smiled feeling good to know he was able to help her. Their little breakfast was disturbed by a knock on her door.

_Who'd the bloody hell is that? Can't they leave her alone for a_ _second to eat in peace?_

"Come in" she said while finishing her eggs.

"Woody…hey what are you doing here?" He saw they were eating breakfast and felt like an intruder all of a sudden.

"Oh I'm sorry I should've called first…I just really need to go over something with you. Nigel can you give us a minute?"

_Give you a minute? I can give you a lifetime and you'd still be clueless about her. _

Nigel complied with a smile.

"You finish up love, all of it" he said to Jordan and gave her a wink.

Jordan hoping Woody didn't catch that nodded and took a sip of her juice.


	5. Baby steps

**Forgot this earlier but I don't any of these characters and you know the rest…**

Woody was at a loss for words now that they were finally alone. He had even rehearsed some lines on his way over but now that she was right there in front of him he was completely lost. Jordan also felt the awkward silence and managed to say a few lines then left it up to him to take over. He took the hint and started with some basic inquiries about her, how she had been and the sorts. But when it came to the reason why he was really there he again felt silent.

"Ok Jordan I'm just gonna say it, I don't know if I'm reading too much into this but yesterday at the station you said something I haven't been able to get out of my head. You brought up your mom in relation to your fathers murder. Do you remember?"

She did remember but she hoped her face didn't show any signs of her knowledge.

"I did? Well yesterday was a really bad day I'm sure you can imagine…I probably just meant to say my father's killer."

He looked at her trying to establish if she was yelling the truth but no luck.

"Yea that's what I thought but it just looked like you really meant to say that. All right I have some bad news actually as well, it seems Ms. Barrington's story checks out. Your father and she seemed to be in a relationship of some sorts. She brought some pictures of them together after you had left."

Her face looked dour now, "a couple of pictures gets her cleared?"

Seeing he managed to upset her he came closer and sat down where Nigel sat just moments before.

"Jordan let it go…it's not just the pictures we…I checked her out, she's the last person I would say killed your father. We need to focus our attention away from her now so we can find the real killer. I need to ask you…have you heard from James lately?"

She twitched when he mentioned his name.

"James? What does he have to do with all this?"

"Maybe everything maybe nothing, Jor the last time you saw him he had a gun to your head. We can't rule out he didn't kill Max just yet. He has motive, means…"

She cut him off before he went on about her painful past "No! He wouldn't do that…I think…I mean we don't know if he's even alive."

She got up from her seat and suddenly felt nauseated.

_Oh god, not now please not now. Breathe…come on breathe. _

Woody didn't mean to upset her so he backed off for now. "Fine but I can't rule him out completely just yet Jor, if he is alive…then he is a suspect. Just call me if you think of anything else."

He got up to leave when he noticed she was turning pale.

"Jordan? Are you ok?"

She couldn't answer him and ran out the door to the restroom. After a second of wondering what just happened he went after her. Nigel who hadn't gone too far after he left the room saw what happened and knew he had to cover for Jordan.

"Eh Woody I need to show you something."

"Yeah later Nigel I need to check on Jordan right now."

"Oh yes I need to talk to about that actually, I just need to run some stuff by you as a matter of fact."

It seemed to work as his attention shifted from her to Nigel.

"Talk about what you said?"

"Well you see the gunshot that killed Max was actually fired from close range…" _Ah the mind preoccupied with love, so easily distracted. _

"Close range? So the killer must have known him or at least been able to come close to him."

"Right you are, well I'm off to work now. I just felt you needed to know this."

Woody was distracted but not enough to let go of Jordan's behavior.

"Jor…there you are. What's going on? I know I might be out of line but you're starting to make me worried."

"Worried? Farm boy I can take care of myself," she said on a defensive note. "I don't need help ok, I'm doing just great."

_Don't walk away. She's just doing this to get rid of you farm boy. _"You're not fine Jordan. Just look at yourself, you're pale, weak, and what happened just a few seconds ago?"

Jordan tired of arguing walked into her office hoping he'd just go away. To her surprise he came after her and closed the door behind him.

"We need to talk Jor. I don't imagine you'll bounce back from this in a couple of days but I want you to know that…that I'm here for you. Christ Jordan I can't forget it ok. It haunts me when I'm awake, when I'm asleep. Do you know how hard it is for me to concentrate on work now? You've become part of my work, I deal with you everyday."

Woody almost looked as if he was about to cry just then and there but Jordan beat him to it.

"Stop Woody…just stop," she said while fighting back her tears. "You don't think I feel anything, I don't feel your touch? Well I do ok! But it's in the past now and we can't change that. All I need from you now is to find my father's killer."

"That's it?" he said. "It's all business from here on? God Jordan I can't believe this…I had to force myself to come here and talk to you and you still can't acknowledge anything can you? Right, I gotta go work on your father's case."

After a final look he turned away to open the door. Jordan's heart was beating so hard she felt it would burst through her chest.

"No! Wait…" she said and grabbed his arm. "No, I don't want this. I need you ok; I need your friendship. I can't do this anymore, us behaving like this around each other. Can't we be grown ups about this? Before everything you were my friend ok and I really miss that. So I'm willing to try to start over, as friends…"

**Sorry I gotta leave you guys hanging like this but I'll update soon.**

**Ps: Thanks for the reviews and constructive criticism, it's appreciated **

Also a thank you to goddesofsnark for help on the earlier chapters 


	6. Can we?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan or the characters…**

"_Friends?" _

For a minute he wasn't sure how to respond to her request. Then the words started flowing out of his mouth and he knew it was right.

"Jor, I've always been your friend and I always will. I can deny it, hell you can deny it but even with everything that's happened I never stopped caring about you."

At times she was sure he still cared about her but there was always that voice in her head. She would hear it at night when she couldn't sleep because she was up thinking about him. The voice told her he had moved on and she would cry herself to sleep.

She now felt a relief like never before and looking down she realized she was still holding on to his arm. Feeling courageous enough she decided to take the next step.

"I…need to tell you something. As a friend I need you to promise me not to freak out."

Knowing him she knew that wouldn't be possible but she tried nonetheless. She moved her hand slowly down his arm, putting her hands in his and gave him a gentle squeeze.

"Jordan," he said softly "what's going on? Why am I gonna freak out?"

"Something happened. Something I wasn't expecting…"

She paused for only a couple of seconds but it seemed a lifetime to both.

"Ok…Jordan…I'm freaking out." He said in a very calm tone. "What exactly are you telling me?"

She now moved his hand and placed it on her belly. He looked at her with his eyes wide open and tried to speak but couldn't.

"I'm telling you…that…well that I'm…pregnant."

"Wha…what?"

His face turned white and almost instantly she regretted telling him. She knew he wasn't ready to hear this.

"You're pregnant? Oh my god Jordan you're pregnant! Oh my god, this is…this is…"

"Clearly a mistake."

"What…no. How can you even say that? I'm going to be a father. Jordan I'm gonna to be a father."

He looked at her; tears were now forming in his eyes and her heart just melted. She was clearly wrong about him. He _was _happy.

"You're ok then?" she said with tears streaming down her face.

"Ok? I'm more than ok. Jordan we're gonna have a baby."

He gently moved closer and slowly hugged her for the first time in months. Who knew a simple hug could feel this good.

**Author's Note: Really really sorry it's so short; I need to get this story out of my head soon! I never knew writing could be so addictive. I'll update soon pls be patient it's the end of the semester for me, meaning exams, papers and all that fun stuff.**

Black.n.blu: I've been trying to incorporate your suggestions; I hope you can see some improvement.

KittyDoggyLover: Thanks! I'll try to update soon 

**Eternalgorithm: Thanks; I hope it's easier to read.**


	7. Too Much To Take

All right…. here we go guys! Sorry for the wait but I'm back and ready to write. I finished my exams, and want to get this fic over and done with now so here goes…

But first…I wanted to say thank for reading my little story and thanks to those who reviewed it thanks thanks thanks. I appreciate it really :

**Disclaimer: I don't own em…I'm not even sure why I keep disclaiming it's not mine, I seriously doubt they'll sue me for this lil' fic of mine :**

Nigel was working late going over Max's murder case one last time. It was late and since no one else was around he was taking aloud, but more so because it seemed as if there was another person there with him. Yes…he was lonely.

"Well I can't believe it but I must have missed something. This cannot be the perfect murder…not this case…

So we have the bullet with these numbers, Ms Barrington's hair, and the angle of the gunshot…what am I not seeing here!

Oh…sweet mother of Nancy…it can't be."

Now that Woody and Jordan decided to become friends again she felt the need to spend some time with him to work out their plans for the baby. They went to the station so Woody could finish up some work before they left to talk. It was at the station Jordan saw something she wasn't even sure was real.

"Jordan—over here," someone whispered to her.

Before she completely realized who it was she was pulled into a corner and was face to face with none other than James. She was too shocked to make a sound; she didn't need to because he did all the talking at first.

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you…I just want to talk. I just came back in town. I heard about Max…"

She thought she heard him chuckle but wasn't sure. Suddenly she felt extremely vulnerable. "James don't be stupid…we're at a police station, if you try anything you won't get far I promise you."

"Sis…always the pessimist. I told you I'm not here to hurt you, if I wanted to I could've done that last time remember?"

She did remember their last encounter, which is why she didn't know what to expect from him.

"I don't understand then, why are you here?"

" I read about Max in the paper and because well you have nobody left…sis. You're all alone. I can relate to that…or maybe I just wanted to see the pain in your eyes."

"You bastard! You're here to gloat aren't you? I don't believe you…did you kill Max James? Answer me…did you kill him!"

She was yelling loud enough to get Woody's attention and when he saw who she was yelling at, he ran over to where she was standing.

"Jordan step back! James put your hands where I can see them, now!"

"Detective, you know better than that…you're going to arrest me for talking to my sis here? I don't think so," he said while he slowly started to walk backwards.

"James stop…I said stop!"

Just then Jordan suddenly leaned against the wall and let out a cry. She distracted Woody in the process and James managed to make a run for it. Woody wanted to run after him but as soon as he looked over at Jordan his heart nearly stopped. She was on the floor.

"Santana…Framus! Go after James and somebody call an ambulance!"

Jordan was lying on the floor crying out in pain. He tried to calm her down but she started to cry.

"Woody…oh my god the baby. Something is wrong…I feel it."

"Jor I'm here hang on please. The ambulance is on its way."

Once again he felt utterly powerless, he could do no more than hold her and wait for the ambulance to come. It seemed a lifetime passed before the ambulance finally came and took them to the hospital.

Sitting in the waiting room he felt terrified as never before. His own shooting was nothing compared to this he thought. His own well-being was so futile right now. Jordan was in there possibly fighting for her life…fighting for the life of their baby. In a moment of desperation he called Garrett for support, both for Jordan as well as himself.

Once Garrett arrived Woody broke down.

"Dr Macy! She's in there…she's hurt Dr Macy. I couldn't stop it…I couldn't prevent it. I…I…" was the last thing he managed to say before the tears he was fighting back came streaming down his face.

Garrett took it upon himself to comfort him. He considered Jordan as his closest friend…his little sister more aptly and knew how much Woody loved her.

"Woody it's ok. She's a fighter that one, don't ever forget that ok. You did the best you could I'm sure. Now its up to her, all we can do is wait."

He managed to nod and wiped his tears away.

"That bastard…I swear if I see him again I'm going to kill him."

Garrett wasn't sure he understood, "kill whom Woody? What happened here exactly?"

"James…he was at the station. He got away, but it was him. Jordan was talking to him right before she collapsed. He did something to her…he was upsetting her. She was yelling at him. She thought he killed Max from what I overheard."

"James…He's alive? I wouldn't be surprised if he did kill him. Where is he now?"

"We don't know. I got as many cops the department could spare looking for him. He can't be too far; Santana is keeping me up to date. I can't leave here Dr Macy she needs me."

Garrett was glad he realized his importance in staying at the hospital but also knew he could be of better use searching for James.

"I understand you want to stay here Woody but I also know you want to catch him so if need be go and I'll stay with her."

"Thanks doc but after everything that we went through I want to be here when she wakes up. You didn't see the fear in her eyes doc; I've never seen her that way. I can't leave before I know she'll be ok."

It took another 2 hours before the doctor came out with some news. She would be fine for now, but she needed a lot of rest and no stress whatsoever.

**A/N: I actually want to request some reviews now. I've never asked for any b4 but I just want to know what do you guys like, what not, do you guys feel the story is going anywhere and so on…. **

**This is still my 1st fic so pls feel free to review it just takes a few sec…I'd really appreciate it guys…**

**Lol I'll even do the 1st one myself…I liked writing this ch out of all of them so far. Nothing like a little self-promotion :**


	8. We Got Him Now

Disclaimer: I don't own em…want to but they beat me to it. 

Nigel was frantically looking for Jordan, neither Woody nor Garrett had contacted the morgue to tell them what had happened.

"Hey Bug, have you seen Jordan anywhere?"

"Eh Yea she was with Woody in her office last time I saw her."

"Well then she must've left because she isn't in there I checked."

He was dying to tell someone about his discovery so Bug would have to do for now.

"Bug my man have I got news for you. Guess who's DNA I found on Max? You're not going to believe this…I myself am actually quite shocked…but I found traces of James' DNA on Max."

He was standing in wait of a response in a manner that would've reminded anyone of a puppy waiting for a treat after showing good behavior.

"Nigel why are you telling me this? Jordan is not here to be impresses you know."

"Bug you know, you are a real killjoy. Do you know what this means? James is a suspect; it's likely he killed Max you see. I have to Phone Jordan now.

He repeatedly tried her cell but after a couple of times he decided to call Woody.

"Santana!"

"No it's Nigel, listen have you seen Jordan? I need to talk to her."

"Eh Nige now's not a good time."

Nigel presumed he was interrupting something private se he decided to leave a message with Woody knowing that he'll give it to her.

"Right I see, well tell her to give me a call when she's done. I've got some information on the case."

"What…Nigel what did you find, tell me!"

"Whoa easy detective…I found evidence James had been in contact with Max. As in his DNA on Max's body. I don't know how I've missed this in the first place, but I guess we're all worried about her you know…"

"Nigel, thanks for the heads up, but I gotta go ok."

Before he could respond the detective had already hung up. Bug couldn't help himself he had to say something.

"I guess he wasn't really interested in your story huh."

"Bug not everyone appreciates us geniuses."

"Well you're a slow genius if that," he said while he left.

Back at the hospital…

"Dr. Macy we got him."

Woody felt his hope somewhat restored.

"Nigel found James' DNA on Max."

"Careful detective, don't let your emotions get the better of you. We need to be hundred percent sure he killed him, I'm not about to ruin this case on a technicality."

"Doc you can't be serious…this is what we've been waiting for. We can now link him with Max's murder. If nothing at least with this I can get more cops on the case and looking out for him. I gotta call Walcott, excuse me doc."

A/N: I know the whole discovery is just so random now you know time wise, but hey so are my thoughts

Review pls…you know you want to…I'll settle for one word even lol say it's good, bad, excellent, horrible…. you get the message…


	9. Square One?

Disclaimer: I don't own em… A/N: well here's another one. Sorry the ch is dragging I know, but I felt this had to be written in so it wouldn't seem like chunks were missing…. 

Jordan woke up to find herself in a hospital bed, alone. She was somewhat disorientated and felt a sting in her abdomen. She cringed.

"Dr. Cavanaugh glad to have you back," a voice said.

"Huh? What's going on here, my baby how's my baby?" she nearly yelled.

"Dr. Cavanaugh please you need to calm down, it's not good for the baby. I'm not going to say another word until you settle down."

_Arrogant prick_ she thought.

Seeing as she somewhat settled down he began telling her what had happened.

"You had some bleeding, not enough to terminate your pregnancy but still something to be mentioned. Furthermore I can only conclude that you're not taking care of yourself. Dr. Cavanaugh your life is just as much in jeopardy as your baby's."

"What gives you the right to _conclude_ anything about me doc?"

"Dr. Cavanaugh…Jordan, I've been practicing for 25 years now. I get your kind all the time. It's my job to inform you of the risks. If you don't care about yourself then you might think of the baby."

Oh my god the arrogance, I should… 

"Doctor," she cringed at the slight pain she still felt. "I believe you're out of line here, but you know what I'm gonna let it go. I'd appreciate it if you'd get lost and don't come back because you don't know me. Trust me you don't wanna _know _me."

She felt somewhat at ease with herself, she hadn't bitten his head off even though she was more than entitled she told herself. The doctor had left giving her one last arrogant look.

Woody came to see her a little while after the doctor had left her alone.

"Jor," was all he managed to say without breaking down.

"Hey, you're here. I was beginning to wonder where you were."

"How are you? The doctors they won't tell me anything, you know no relations-stuff."

"Yea I know." She felt a sting in her side and cringed.

"Jor! You ok?"

"Hmm…yea I get these pains that's all."

"I'll go get the doctor hold on..."

She cut him off before he could continue. "No that's fine. The guy's a total dirt bag…I kicked him out."

"What? Well fine I'll find someone else then," and he left.

Down at the Boston PD…

"Hey Santana, did you call Woody yet? He might wanna be here for this."

"I was just going to but you mind doing it for me? I mean you've known him longer and all."

"Well sure I'll do it," she said while picking up the phone. "Hey Woody, it's Framus. I think we got your guy…Yeah you should come down…ok we'll see you in a bit then."

She looked over at Santana, "hey was up with you girl?"

"Nothing…Woody's just a good guy, I can't see him hurt like this."

"Oh I see…you like him huh?"

"What do you mean? I mean I like him but not like that, besides nobody can replace Jordan…"

"Yea he's got it bad for her."

Woody arrived at the station twenty minutes later. He was antsier than usual and ready to hurt somebody real bad.

"Where is he," his voice so loud it echoed through the hall. "Well?" he said looking at the gang waiting for him.

"Hey you know you might wanna let Seely take this one, or I'll even do it. You know it might be better…" he cut her off.

"NO…Framus you don't understand ok, none of you do. I have to see him alright, please I have to see him."

They let Woody handle the interrogation but were all ready in case something went wrong.

Finally we got him. All right Woody this is it stay cool. We need a confession; she's counting on you. 

He felt the immense pressure and when he walked into the room, he felt his heart filling with anger.

"James…now what was that you said earlier? What's that cat got your tongue?"

James remained silent but shot Woody a look that spoke volumes.

"Well it doesn't matter, see we got you and your DNA on Max, it's only a matter of time now."

This seemed to arouse his attention. "You got my DNA detective? Well congratulations case solved then huh?"

The tone in his voice told Woody something was about to happen that he wouldn't like.

"There's only one problem detective…I didn't kill him." He shot him a look again; this time he added a smile.

"Why you son of a bitch! I'm gonna wipe that smile off your face." He lunged at his face but missed.

Seely and Framus barged in the room trying to contain Woody.

"Woody," Framus yelled, "he's not worth it, come on don't jeopardize this investigation. She wouldn't want this you know that."

The thought of Jordan stopped him from literally killing James and he stormed out leaving Seely and Framus to finish the interrogation.

A/N: Ok I'm gonna leave you guys hanging for a bit here, this is where the story's gonna take some turns so I gotta go through this to make it good imho. I'm facing writers block I think b/c the drafts I just erased for the next chs were horrible. But fret not lol I'll have more up this week, good or bad.

**Reviews might help hint hint. **


	10. Brotherly Love

Disclaimer: I don't own em… 

**Thanks! for your reviews guys I really appreciate it, the encouragement keeps me going lol. **

**A/N: ok well you're gonna read this and find some things are off…I'm aware of that but I'm too I'm still trying to get the hang of this all so pls bear w/ me all. The story is in my head all right but getting it on paper proved to be more difficult than I first thought. So pls stick it out w/ me and hopefully you'll enjoy some of it along the way. **

The confrontation with James left Woody shaken. He said it with conviction…so much conviction that Woody was inclined to believe him.

_There's only one problem detective…I didn't kill him. _ He kept replaying the words in his head over and over again. This couldn't be true; he didn't want to believe it.

He made his way into the morgue twenty minutes later.

"Nigel, we got problems."

Nigel on his way out took one look at Woody and understood he wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

"What seems to be the matter detective?" he said in a concerned manner.

"It seems James might not be the killer after all."

This alarmed Nigel, he had done the tests himself. He couldn't have been wrong.

"What…you can't be serious. What leads you to believe this?"

For a moment the two men just stared at each other until Woody finally broke the awkward silence.

"He told me," Woody said in a low voice as if he were embarrassed.

"He what!" Nigel exclaimed, "he told you…and that apparently is enough?" Not many things made Nigel lose control but this was certainly one of the few things that could get to him.

"Believe me I don't like this anymore than you do Nige, it's just my instinct is telling me he didn't do it…working at the station all this time has enabled me to look through people's lies and unfortunately I don't think he did it."

Nigel knew he would never give up easily so if he really thought that James wasn't the killer, than he was willing to go along with him on this.

"I suppose I'd better start over then, I'll call you if I got news. By the way have you seen Jordan we can't seem to find her?"

"Eh yea about that…she's in the hospital. Dr. Macy is with her now, she'll be fine as long as she doesn't stress herself out…so you know what means."

"Good grief! How come no one bothered to tell us earlier? We were starting to get worried and…"

"Nigel…just do this for her, the sooner we know what really happened the sooner she can relax and focus on herself.

He couldn't argue with the detective on that so he decided to drop it and went back to work and informed the rest of the gang about Jordan.

Meanwhile when Woody left the station the way he did the other detectives resumed questioning James. Framus and Seely were both in the room with James trying to get to the truth.

"So James," Seely began, "can you tell us then since you_ didn't _kill Max what you were doing at his place the night of the murder?"

Seely's cockiness was evident to James making him reluctant to answer his questions without a fight.

"Detective I suggest you stop wasting everybody's time and give up. You can't pin this one on me no matter how hard you try…and I think you will try so hard won't you blondie?"

Seely let out a fake laugh, "Jimmie boy you're in for a treat…you killed the wrong guy. We can do this the hard way no problem…"

Just then James suddenly started to talk, " I went to see Max that night, I won't deny that, but I didn't have the satisfaction of killing him…too bad I would have made him suffered a bit more."

Seely taking this opportunity, "what did go there for then?"

"Believe it or not he had contacted me…said he wanted to talk things over. You know for ruining my life and all. He said he wanted to let go of the past once and for all and that included me."

"Well and then what happened?"

I got there and things started to heat up so we…we fought," he said with an eerie mile on his face.

"You fought?" even Seely seemed to be surprised by this, "you hit an elderly defenseless man? Wow, that's just wrong even for me."

"Come on detective he deserved it but I left after that, they're just too pitiful the Cavanaugh's. You can't to stand to be in room with them for long."

"Why did you see Jordan then?"

"Ah when I'm in town I do want to see dear old sis when I can."

"Naturally, must be that brotherly love thing."

Seely felt the interrogation going nowhere and on some level he began to believe James. He went out to see Framus and Santana who were watching the interrogation. They both were slowly realizing that James might be telling the truth as he was claiming.

"So what now? Psycho brother from hell is claiming he didn't do it and to tell you the truth, I don't think he did it either. I mean he has motive but the evidence merely places him at the location. If he really did kill him he would be rubbing it in everyone's face. I've seen enough psycho's to spot one and that guy in there…he fits the profile."

"Gee Seely I didn't know you're a shrink on your days off," Framus said sarcastically.

"And that's exactly why I stick to my own business, you try to show some compassion and you get this."


	11. Sting

Disclaimer: I don't own em… This one is a bit longer b/c it just is ; 

Max's body hadn't been released yet and with the turn the case had taken, it wasn't going to be released any time soon. With Jordan in the hospital Bug set out to perform some secondary tests on the body. About ten minutes into the test he found something that was overlooked before. He set out to Macy's office and found him back from the hospital.

"Dr. Macy you better take a look at this."

"What is it Bug?"

"I got the cause of death."

"Bug I'm in no mood for games, we already established that."

"That's just it, we didn't…at least it wasn't conclusive sir. Max was poisoned…and then shot. Ready to hear it?"

He took a breath knowing it would be one of those days. "Yea let me hear it."

"Well like I said he was poisoned. The first time around we were all…I was too much preoccupied with the circumstances surrounding the death…well I mean…god how am I going to tell this to Jordan? I don't know how I can…"

"Bug…Bug what did you find exactly?"

He looked at him before he continued trying to establish whether he heard anger or concern in his voice.

"Well I found a puncture wound in his calf, seemingly from a needle.

Nigel who had joined the two burst out saying, "a needle wound in his calf? Oh lord it's like that one conspiracy theory about a man who had poison on the tip of his umbrella and…"

Macy was losing his patience and cut him off.

"Bug as you were saying, you believe he was poisoned?"

"And shot," Bug added, "yes the poison found in his body is one that stiffens all the muscles making the object a very easy target. I believe this is how the killer got so close to Max."

"Ok this news doesn't reach Jordan understand?"

The two men nodded in unison. Garrett left to call Woody and the DA.

"Bug?"

"What is it," he said impatiently.

"Hear me out, the man had a needle on the tip of his umbrella and he poked his victim's in the calf as he walked past them on the street."

"And pray tell me what gave you the idea I give a damn about that?"

"Uh nothing really…well carry on then."

"I'm going to see Dr. Macy now if you don't mind."

"Bug…what did I do?" he said surprised.

"It's not about you…you lousy brit."

He left Nigel with a puzzled look on his face.

Bug knocked twice before he entered Macy's office.

"What can I do for you Bug?"

"Dr. Macy I just wanted to say that this will never happen again."

"What will never happen again Bug…you lost me."

"This! I've never overlooked something like this before, and it had to be this case too…I just…I just…"

"Bug, it's not your fault. We're all too close to this case, it's not just you."

"No but Dr. Macy, I did the autopsy! I mean how can I have overlooked such a big thing? I wanted to give Jordan a cause of death so bad that I… "

"Bug…I need you to stop and focus on the next step now. We can lament on this later on; right now we got a case to solve.

Bug seemed to reluctantly agree.

"Bug…it's not your fault ok, I don't want to hear you say that again you hear me?"

He nodded still convinced deep down that he was at least partially responsible.

Macy was left to ponder Bug's words. Someone was responsible for the errors but he wasn't strong enough to admit to Bug that he himself was to blame. After all he was the chief ME overseeing the case. He made his two calls and grabbed the bottle he was storing in his desk drawer, the only thing that was certain in his life at the moment.

Nigel was busy tracing the origin of the poison that was found. It appeared to be snake poison and evidently very deadly. He related his findings to Bug while doing some more research.

"So it's snake poison all right, but rather odd though this one doesn't appear to be a Boston native meaning it was imported from…here it is…either it was from Tasmania, South Australia, Queens land, or Kangaroo Island. The little bugger is called _Denisonia superba_ or in plain English the Australian copperhead"

"So the killer either went to Tasmania, South Australia, Queens land, or Kangaroo Island or had it shipped here. But I doubt that just anyone could've done that, it must've cost a lot."

"Right I agree with you on that one."

Macy done with his self-pity went to inform the two men of his progress.

"Woody will be here any minute I want you two to work on anything he needs. In the mean time I need to meet with the DA."

They all agreed and continued with their work.

Back at the hospital Jordan was ordered to bed rest for at least a week and kept for observation. She was relaying her feeling to her new doctor but this one wasn't giving so easily as the other one.

"Doctor, I'm doing better. I don't need to stay here."

"Please call me Joseph, and I do think you need to stay here and rest." The doctor understood she would be handful and wanted to establish some trust.

She sighed in exasperation, "Ok _Joseph_ I know my body and I will be fine." She was still getting minor shots of pain in her side and was briefly wondering if she should listen to the doctor after all.

"Jordan…you mind if I call you Jordan? Ok good. See this is your first child and under the circumstances it's better if you stay for observation. Give it a day or two and if you're doing better I'll reconsider ok?" He spoke in a fatherly voice to her.

"I know that you need to rest for your sake and the baby's. Detective Hoyt informed me about your father's death so I would really want you to stay here and rest."

She felt she was being lectured and she didn't do well with lectures. For some reason though she agreed to stay and for the rest of the day she managed to play nice with the nurses and the doctor.

Meanwhile Woody was at the morgue trying to find some answers. He was also surprised by the latest findings and after disregarding Nigel's umbrella conspiracy theory he left to be with Jordan.

Bug again pointed out to Nigel the uselessness of his theories, they both went back to work afterward with orders to contact both Macy and Woody if they found out more.

Woody walked in to find a sleeping Jordan but instead of leaving he pulled a chair closer to her bed and watched her sleep all the while hoping…praying she and the baby would be ok. He sat for some twenty minutes when she finally woke up.

"Woody hey," she said groggily.

"Hey there, sorry if I woke you up, you feeling somewhat better?"

"Hmm yea a little. So you'd be happy to hear they're keeping me overnight," she felt good joking with him.

He laughed a little, "Yea thrilled actually. You know it's for the best Jo, they wouldn't keep you if they didn't think it was necessary."

"Yea I suppose, but remind me to kick you when I do get out. I heard a certain detective had a little talk with my doctor."

"Oh that…I just told him you were under a lot of pressure lately…I was worried."

"I know…I'm sorry about that."

"I just don't want to lose you again and our baby fort that matter. We can't be selfish anymore Jo, we got to put the baby first now, no matter what."

He was so gentle and sincere that Jordan would've forgiven him for anything if he had asked.

"So any progress on my father's case?" She still had difficulty calling it her father's _case_. "Did you get James?"

His heart sank. How would he begin to tell her the developments on the case?

"Yea actually we did catch him."

"Well that's good then. Did he confess?"

"First promise me you'll stay calm, for the baby Jordan promise me."

She was getting anxious now and reluctantly promised she'd stay calm or at least try.

"We did get James like I said, and apparently he did see Max the night in question."

"Why do I feel a but coming?"

"But he's not the one that killed him Jo I'm so sorry."

"Woody you can't be serious! James did it, I saw it in his eyes today when he…"

"Jo please calm down you promised."

"I know what I promised," she snapped back at him, "I just can't believe this is happening again. First that Barrington lady and now James, tell me are you just going to let all the suspects walk?"

He could tell she was getting upset again and saw tears forming in her eyes. "We're not letting anyone walk, trust me I want to get this guy as much as you do. Max meant a lot to me too don't forget that.

She knew she couldn't hold this against him, but for now she needed to let it out and he was available to her.

Soon after this Woody left using the case as an excuse but the reality was he needed some time away from her. He had come with the intention of staying until the hospital asked him to leave but he figured his presence just added to the stress she was ordered to avoid, so he left.

James was still being held at the station. He couldn't be held for Max's murder but he could still be held on other charges till he was cleared completely.

Detective Seely was deliberating with the DA on their next move. "So what do we have on him?"

"Resisting arrest, possession of a concealed weapon, I think we can stretch that to another 72 hours."

"Ok so in the meantime do we feed him or what?"

"This isn't a hotel Seely, we're not here to make him comfortable."

"Oh Kay just asking." _Man that woman is cold. _

**A/N: Well what is the judgment? **


	12. Family Ties

Disclaimer: I don't own em… 

Ok here's another one. So sorry for the wait, life got in the way, you know how it is. We're nearing the end of this fic. I think a couple of more ch to go and it will be finally done!

The decision to keep James at the station proved to be very wise. Considering James' history he would be considered a prime suspect to almost all involved. He was an elusive figure, not much was known about him except his volatile nature and some tidbits here and there.

The night of the murder Max had set up a meeting with James wanting to put the past behind and find some way to reconcile his mistakes from the past. They did meet, soon after however James left without any solution being reached.

"His alibi checked out," Seely told Walcott. "He was at this bar for lowlifes like himself around the time of the murder."

"That's just great, however the bar isn't that far from the murder scene."

Seely's eyebrow went up, "we've got witnesses that place him at the bar."

"What you've got is a bunch of drunks thinking they can place him there detective. So no alibi…leaves him right where I want him," she said as she was looking at James from behind the mirror. She was having the feeling now that something was overlooked. It could be quite possible that James didn't _kill _Max, but that didn't mean that he was innocent.

"Ok well he oughta be warned then," he said trying to be funny. "But where does that leave the poison? Yea the ME's office dropped that little bomb on us so?"

"Yea I know," for a moment she seemed to be deep in thought still staring at James who in turn was staring at the mirror as well. "You know what detective? I'm going to ask Mr. Horton here a couple more questions. He does know more than he wants us to believe," she said determined to get some answers. Seely stayed behind to observe behind the mirror, he really didn't know what she was up to but from the looks of it he knew she meant business.

"Mr. Horton…mind if I call you James? Let's cut the formalities then, Max Cavanaugh is dead. I refuse to believe that you didn't have a part in it."

He looked at her and gave her one of his smirks, the one that drove both Woody and Jordan to anger. It didn't seem to have the same effect on her however. "DA isn't it? Should you be playing out all your cards on the table so early in the game?"

"Ah so it is a game to you then? Was killing Max Cavanaugh part of it too?"

Her insistent questioning did the trick, the smirk faded away. "What makes you think you know anything about me? You waltz in here like you've got all the answers why don't you tell me who the hell you think you are!"

_Gotcha_. "James I know exactly who you are. You can speak the truth and get away with it." He didn't seem to understand where she was going. "You took us all for a ride you know…I don't _like_ that. You think you're so smart, but you and I both know you couldn't have done this _alone_. You are going to pay for this …and it will be my pleasure putting you away for good." She walked out leaving James to think. As soon as she closed the door she heard him scream and by the sound of it he was trashing the room. _Gotcha again._

"Well I have to say, you sure know how to handle a man," Seely had joined Walcott in the hallway. "So you got a theory or was that just for fun, I mean it was entertaining to say the least…"

"Detective…find detective Hoyt, I wanna see both of you in the conference room and track James' foster parents. I want to speak to them as well."

Seely surprised at the connection with the foster parents and Max's murder did what he was told and ten minutes later the three of them were in the conference room contemplating the next step. Walcott began explaining her actions, "first off detective Seely are the parents here?" He nodded in agreement, "Good, ok I have reason to believe his foster parents were involved. It struck me as odd why James would be so calm and collected and why I actually believed him when he told us he didn't kill Max."

Woody was in no mood for riddles and although he couldn't really tell Walcott to hurry the heck up he was getting impatient. "Ok so we know all of this already, why are we here?"

"Detectives I want you two to interrogate the Horton's."

They both were surprised at the turn the conversation took. Woody continued to speak for both of them, "Why? There's nothing they can tell us."

"Detective Hoyt, I know James is guilty and while he may not have killed Max himself, I know he had someone else do it for him."

"That's crazy…the Horton's haven't seen James in years. He hates them as much as…as much as the Cavanaugh's. Why on earth would they kill for them? No that's not possible."

"You'd be surprised how far a parent can go for their child detective. I've heard the stories and read any existing files; the Horton's had a baby before James who died. They thought they got a second chance with James, a second chance gone up in smoke soon after he turned sixteen. That's twice detective…they lost their son twice, can you imagine what that does to a parent? What a parent will do to reverse it when given the chance? I'm not asking here understand? I send Framus and Santana to the Horton residence looking for possible evidence. They should be back soon; I'll keep you two updated. In the mean time get going, I want this case closed."

She left the two men behind each wrapped up in their own thoughts. _Was that Walcott being maternal now?_ Seely wondered. Woody was still processing the Horton connection, _could they really have done it? This is too much, how will I ever be able to face Jordan again? What if she was right all along?_

A/N: come on now I know you're dying to press the little button


	13. Family Ties II

**Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan or the characters used.**

A/N: First, I'm terribly sorry that I haven't updated in such a long while. You've heard it all before but life really got in the way. Second, I wasn't planning on going this direction (it'll be slightly AU at some points) but writers block made me do it. Apologies in advance if it sucks……enjoy.

The DA stepped into the interrogation room, confident, sure that James was withholding information. She studied him for a moment trying to find some resemblance with a certain dark-haired ME. She couldn't find any than their ability to be extremely stubborn. It had been several hours and James was still sticking to his original story.

"Mr. Horton, why don't you start from the beginning and tell me what happened."

He was looking at her trying to figure out her angle.

"Listen I've already told them all I know more than enough times. So why don't you go do your job and leave me alone!" he yelled.

"Well Mr. Horton there's no need to raise your voice."

"It's James," he snapped back, Horton is the guy who took me in…its James you hear!"

"Oh you don't like to be called by your _parents' _last name," she asked knowing full well he didn't.

"He is not my father!" he yelled as he slammed his fists on the table. He was getting more and more agitated. "What are you angling at with all these questions?"

"You don't like questions?" she asked as innocent as a wolf in sheep's clothes.

"The questions," he went on to say, "they have nothing to do with the murder investigation. Wasn't that the reason why I was brought in or are you just enjoying going down memory lane here?" He was really getting heated up now, "why can't you people just do your job and leave me alone?"

"Ok James if I am not doing my job then what am I doing here?"

"It seems to me you're the DA, not the department shrink."

She went for the prize, "And your _parents _were just supposed to take of you right?"

"Damn right they were," he said before noticing his slip-up, "all they had to do was take care of me…_that's all_," he whispered that last thought almost sounding defeated.

"Must've been though then when you found out they weren't even your real parents, at least not your biological parents."

"What do you know?"

She wasn't backing down now, "would you say then that they owed you something, for all those years they kept you in the dark?"

"In the dark," he scoffed, "they lied to me for _16 years _lady. Do you know how that feels…knowing your whole life has been a lie?" Losing his self-control made him tell her things he hadn't told anybody ever, excluding the Cavanaugh's.

"They needed to redeem themselves right?" she went on unphased of his anger.

"Redemption," he chuckled, "you don't know how far some people would go for redemption."

"Oh I have a sneaking suspicion I do," she gave him her final blow.

He noticed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that we know who the killed Max Cavanaugh, James." He remained quiet so she went on. "the detectives are questioning him as we speak. What's the matter James? You're awfully quiet all of a sudden. Could it be you know whom I'm talking about?" _Game over_, she thought.

An eerie smile crept over his face, "why would you say that?"

"You're still not through playing games James? I'll leave you with this thought then as I go see our suspect."

As she left she glanced over her shoulder to see him just staring in front of him. She knew it would be over soon.

She met Woody and Seely out in the hallway, "detectives what have you got for me?"

They simultaneously began," he confessed!"

"What gave it away? I mean they hadn't been in touch for nearly twenty years." Seely began.

She told him when her suspicions began. Woody who was also listening could only think of Jordan. She had been right all along, it was up to him now to tell her.

"Excuse me," he said as he made past the other two, "I think I'll head over to the hospital now."

They both paused for a moment, "you did well detective Hoyt, she'll understand." She said.

He merely nodded and took off.

His plan was to go straight to the hospital but he found himself outside the morgue. He was pretending he didn't know how he ended up here but he finally sighed and went in…he needed to see Garret.

He reluctantly walked through the morgue hallway , careful not to be spotted by any one. He was in no shape to tell them what had happened. He found his way to Garret's office, he was inside luckily.

He knocked and stuck his head inside, "mind if I come in?"

"Detective?" he said surprised, "what can I do for you?" Normally he wouldn't have been the least bit surprised to see him, but he was aware that the only case Woody was working on was the Cavanaugh one. His heart skipped a beat, the look on Woody's face didn't assure him in the least bit.

"It's the case," he said knowing Garret would understand which one he was referring to, "we got the killer."

"But that's great," garret exclaimed as he rose out of his chair. "Hm why do I get the feeling that there's bad side to all of this?"

"Cause there is, first of Jordan was right…James was involved."

"Involved? Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"He was involved but didn't do the _actual_ killing. He had an accessory…"

"What! Well who is it?"

"Mr. Horton…his adoptive father."

"Does Jordan know?"

"I was on my way there just now but I…I ended up here."

"She should hear it from you Woody, go you need to be with her right now. She's going to need all the support she can get."

"I know, which is why I'm here I suppose…just in case she shuts me out again…just be there for her…and the baby."

"Woody…she'll understand. It might take her some time to realize that but she'll understand. Now go."

"Thanks Dr. Macy," he said as he left.

Back at the PD…

"Mr. Horton, is that all?" the DA asked as he signed his statement.

"That's all," he said as tears were streaming down his face, "he was my son…my wife never forgave me for what happened. He trusted us and we betrayed him."

"You might have betrayed him but murdering another man wouldn't have solved that."

"He was responsible you know…I just did what he told me to do. He said he'd forgive us if I did this one thing for him…just one thing."

"So James planned the whole thing and you…you just executed it."

"Yeah the poison, the gun, everything…it was a small thing to do to get our family back."

She shook her head, this was too awful even for her. "I'll have one of the detectives escort you to your cell…you get one phone call…I suppose you think of a way to explain all this to your wife," she said as she left.

A/N: I feel I could have gone a different direction but I'm really not a serious writer or anything so this is the best…well maybe not…I could do.

**Please review, friendly or not I always appreciate them. I learn from mistakes, so let me know. **


	14. On a Chilly Boston Morning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan or the characters used.**

**A/N: I'm not sure about Horton's first name so I used one that was used in another fic…**

Even though his radio was blaring at the highest possible level, Woody was in deep thought. He was on his way to see Jordan…on his way to tell her the case was solved…closed…the end as they say in Hollywood. He was just praying it wouldn't be the same with his relationship with Jordan. She allowed him back into her life after Max's death…somewhat.

He contemplated on how to exactly tell her as he parked his car. When he stood outside her room a little while later he still didn't know. Summoning all his courage he knocked and opened the door without waiting for her reply.

Their eyes met and he silently moved to the chair. He could tell by expression that she knew something was wrong. Once he had moved the chair close enough to the bed he began to speak, "Jordan," he paused…_this could either relieve her or devastate her_, he thought.

"Woody? Hey what's wrong? Tell me, I can see something is bothering you." She reached out to his hand and slowly caressed it.

"We know who killed Max…I'm so sorry…you were right…James he was involved." He said not able to look her in the eye. He noticed she had stopped caressing his hand. His heart broke but he continued nonetheless, "he had an accomplice…Samuel Horton."

She finally managed to speak, "but I don't understand why would he help James? My father never hurt him or anything."

"From what I understood he was just looking for redemption. Said their lives never went back to normal after James left. They blamed James at first but about a year ago James came back into their lives and convinced them into believing that Max was to blame for everything."

"And James told you all this?"

"No, Seely and Walcott dealt with him. It was Walcott actually who thought of this first. Then once we brought in Mr. Horton Seely and I dealt with him."

"Oh," was all she managed to say without breaking down.

"He said he wanted his family back, that was his sole reason. It was enough to convince him he hated Max…enough to kill him."

"Ok Woody enough…just stop it," she said as tears were streaming down her face. "Will they get what they deserve at least?"

"I'm positive on that, there's not a jury in the world that'll set those two free."

She lay back down, "can I get a moment alone please? I need to deal with all of this. Just for a little while, do you mind?"

He understood. He feared she would shut him out after he told and by the looks of things she was doing just that. "Yeah sure, anything you say. I'll drop by tomorrow then before I go to work."

"I forgot to tell you…I'm being released tomorrow actually, Garret's picking me up."

"Oh…well I'll just track you down then." He felt his heart break once again as he left the room. _I've lost her for good_, he thought as his feet carried him back to his car.

Tomorrow came, Jordan was released and as promised Garret picked her up. She had to promise both the doctor and her boss that she would take it easy and actually cut down on her hours. She didn't want to stop working completely like any other person might do because it would provide a welcome distraction to her, even if all Garret would let her do was paperwork. She promised herself that she would listen to them for once…for the baby's sake.

Days turned into weeks and before anybody realized it had been two months since the murder. The trial, which had started a month earlier, was coming to an end on a chilly Boston morning. The morgue staff was gathered in the court's hallway. They were standing by one of their own in her time of need. Garret was rubbing Jordan's shoulders in an effort to relieve some of the anxiety and stress she was experiencing.

"You don't have to do this you know. No one is going to think less of you if turn around and go home." They all nodded in agreement but Jordan shook her head.

"No, I need to do this. I need to follow through for myself, for Max…for his unborn grandchild. I'll be ok, really."

The session started.

Ten minutes after they had started she heard the words…_guilty…_it was echoing in her head and she didn't even hear the rest. All she knew was that they would pay for their crime, not that it made her feel any better about the whole situation. The atmosphere in the courtroom was one of relief but there was a silence that dawned on the people present. Jordan didn't stick around long enough to face all the sympathizers. Instead she asked her friends to drop her off at home. On her way out she spotted Woody sitting at the very back. She gave him a nod and a smile that didn't reach her eyes and continued walking towards the exit.

Long after everybody had cleared out the courtroom Woody was still sitting there. He wanted to go home but didn't know where that was anymore. This case had taken a bigger toll on him that he thought. His chances of reconciling things with Jordan were shot to hell and now their child had to deal with the consequences. Defeated he rose to his feet…he would go to his empty apartment after all…alone.

**A/N: One more chapter left! Review please I'm dying to hear the verdict..lol no pun intended. **


	15. Forever

**Disclaimer: I don't own Crossing Jordan or the characters used.**

It was still early but Jordan was getting ready to go back to bed. The pregnancy was beginning to wear her out earlier than she had imagined. Keeping in mind the scare she got at the beginning, she wasn't taking any more chances. Right when she started to doze off into sleep there was a knock at the door. Lily and Garret would do these surprise visits at times and usually she didn't mind them but today she was just exhausted. After what seemed like an eternity to her she managed to get herself to the door.

As soon as she opened it wide enough for them to hear she began ranting, "oh my god I told you guys I'm doing fine!" she caught her breath, "Woody?"

"Sorry it's just me," he tried to smile but wasn't able to, "clearly my timing could gave been better but uhm I just need a minute, please?"

"Oh sure, come in. I was just getting ready to lie down but I can spare a minute for you."

She shut the door and not a second after that Woody began to speak thinking if he didn't do it now he would never have the courage again.

"Jordan look…I can't tell you how sorry I am and if it'll take the rest of my life to make it up to you I will. But just please…please don't shut me out…not now. The thought of our child growing up in a broken home is literally killing me. I've lost so much time already I don't want to continue like this anymore…in fact I just can't. So let's just try and work this out…for the baby," he said as he looked at her. He was out of breath.

She finally opened her mouth to speak, "No…"

He gulped, "no, Jordan wha.."

"Wait…let me finish Woody," she said, "I don't want to try just for the baby. I want to make it work for _us _as well. I've been going over it in my head a thousand times…I can't explain why I didn't tell you before but I love you…I really do and I can never tell you how grateful I am for what you've done for me and my dad too in a way. I'm so sorry I shut you out, you deserved more than that. So I guess I'm really asking you to forgive me."

For a moment he couldn't believe what he was hearing, she was asking him for forgiveness? She loved him? He clumsily moved forward putting his arm around her waist finally touching her soft skin.

"I love you more than life itself Jo, there's nothing for me to forgive."

"No but Woody you need to…" she began but he didn't let her finish.

"Jo just trust me on this one, there's nothing to forgive let's move forward now. It's been so long since I've wanted you I almost feel as if I'll wake up any minute now" he whispered.

"I know," she said with her eyes closed taking in every moment of them together.

She slowly started kissing him on his neck going up to his ear and finally facing him, she took one look into his eyes and knew she was lost forever.

She woke up the next morning in his arms, she could definitely get used to this. Her movements woke him up, "hm hey you're up already?" he moved closer to give her a kiss, "that must've been the hardest thing I've ever done, sleeping here next to you and not being able to make to love to you," he said as he continued with his trail of kisses down her neck.

She softly moaned, "just a little while longer and then you can make it up to me detective…as much as you want."

He stopped his kisses and positioned himself so he was looking straight at her. Jordan felt his intense gaze piercing through her, "does that mean what I think it means?" he said with a flicker of hope in his eye.

She suddenly felt very vulnerable, "I think so…"

He felt her tense up a bit, "hey it's ok I'm not going to pressure you into anything. I guess we can take it slow…again. I just want us to be together, we don't necessarily need to be legally bound for that."

She knew what she wanted and listening him trying to comfort her gave her the final push, "well actually I don't think we can take it any slower than this and besides we're having a baby…real soon. I want you Woody…I want to be with you forever so maybe you should reconsider your thought a bit."

He gave her the biggest smile; "you have made me the happiest man on the planet just now. I want to be with you too…forever.

Joseph C. Hoyt was welcomed into the world on a sunny spring day. All of their friends were there in the waiting room as he was born. After a little peek at the newborn they all had to go back to work much to their dismay.

After things settle down a bit and Joseph passed all the health checks, he was brought back to his mom and dad who were eagerly awaiting his return. They both had tears in their eyes as Jordan held her son for the first time. They silently admired their son as he was sleeping in her arms.

"He's beautiful Woody, look at him…our son. Can you believe it?"

He was equally amazed, "our son Jo…our son," he said as he gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. I can't even imagine what would have happened if you didn't show up at my apartment that night. Sometimes I'm really convinced I'm too stubborn for my own good," she added with a smile.

"Sometimes Jo? Well it doesn't matter I always come back to you."

"That's good to know."

"Yeah isn't it? I set out to go home that day and it led me to you."

They kissed again until their son started fussing, "oh looks like he wants to join us," Jordan said.

"He should take a number, I've waited four years to get to hold you in my arms like this," he lovingly said, "but since he's such a cute little fella, he can go ahead."

"You hear that honey? Isn't daddy just the greatest? From now on all my love is for you and daddy here."

"Can I get that in writing," he added trying to be funny.

"Sure you can…just get me ring and I'll sign anything you want. Let's do it in a little bit though I'm truly beat."

"Jordan …I'd never thought I see the day. Just for the record you proposed to me."

"Did not…you've been fishing for this for months now."

"Uhuh sure…I'll take care of Joseph here and you… you should rest now." He took his son as she made herself comfortable. As she slowly fell asleep he hear her whisper something, _I love you._ He smiled as he continued to watch her sleep, "I love you too honey…and you too," he said looking at his son.

His life finally seemed to make sense. It took them a while to get here but they had managed to get past all the hardships and find each other and not a moment too soon. Their son would not have to deal with broken homes…not if his parents had anything to do with it.

The End

**A/N: Oh my god it's finally done! I aimed for 15 chapters and what do you know 15 chapters lol.**

**Well thanks for sticking by through all of this I really appreciate it!**

**Special thanks to and in no particular order, **

**Drumbum ,Orlando-Crazy, Gossipgirl1031, Callieach, WIWJ, Luvin-ben+adam, Milliehoyt, Teddycare, Browneyedgirl330, KittyDogLover, Chinco, Eternalgorithm, Black.n.blu, Goddessofsnark, Samlover, for reviewing and giving me some much needed pointers. **


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